1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a container closure assembly having an integral radio frequency identification tag.
2. Description of the Related Art
Closable containers are utilized for a multitude of household and commercial products. Closures, such as threaded and flip-top caps, hinged closures, dispensing closures, and the like, are installed after filling the container with a selected product. Closures can have a relatively simple structure, or can include multi-layered liners providing selected functionality. A finished closure assembly may be a multi-part assembly, and may include, for example, a hard-shelled outer closure adapted for reclosable engagement with a container, one or more cushioning liners (also referred to as “wadding”), sealable films, desiccant inserts, and the like.
Container closure assemblies can be fabricated utilizing different processes. A specialty closure manufacturer may handle the entire process from raw materials to end product. Alternatively, fabrication of container closure assemblies may be handled by several specialty manufacturers. For example, closures may be produced and supplied as a stand-alone product by a manufacturer specializing in injection molding. If the closures are to utilize a liner, a liner fabricator may produce the liners and install them in the closures. Alternatively, closures and liners may be fabricated and provided separately to the manufacturer of the product destined for the container or to a specialty container filling operation, which assembles the closures and liners, and installs the assembled closure assemblies on the filled containers. The closures and liners may also be provided separately to a closure assembly operation, which assembles and supplies finished closure assemblies to the product manufacturer or filling operation. The entire process from fabrication to installation can involve numerous steps conducted by several different operators at several different locations, which may involve several packaging and transportation steps. All of this may add to the cost ultimately borne by the end-user, thereby increasing the value of the product enclosed by a container and closure assembly.
Many products, such as pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, personal care products, household chemicals, and the like, may require protection against air and moisture while in a container. It is known that a metallic liner, such as an aluminum foil, is typically less permeable to air and moisture than a polymeric liner. Thus, closure assemblies may also include functionalities that impede the migration of air and moisture into the interior of the container.
Manufacturers, distributors, transporters, retailers, and/or end-users may wish to monitor or identify containers at various points throughout the distribution process. Furthermore, end-users typically expect some assurance that the purchased contents of a container are as advertised and produced by the manufacturer. Thus, closure assemblies may also include functionalities that prevent or signal unintended or unauthorized access to the contents of the container. Specialized sealing liners, often referred to as “tamper-proof seals” or “tamper-evident seals,” can be installed over the filled container opening. Such seals are adapted so that the seal must be removed, destroyed, or distorted to gain initial access to the contents, thus indicating that tampering may have taken place. Nevertheless, tampering agents can replace or recreate a sealing liner so expertly that the deception may very likely be undiscovered.
Tampering can be minimized by controlling the transportation and storage of the filled containers. Radio frequency identification (“RFID”) tags may be utilized to track containers and provide information concerning the products carried therein, such as the name of the product, its location and date of manufacture, an expiration date, an identification number, and the like. RFID tags typically consist of a microchip or microprocessor that can store such information, electrically coupled with an antenna. The antenna can receive an actuation signal from a remote transmitter and convey the signal to the microprocessor, to which the microprocessor can respond by transmitting stored information through the antenna to a remote reader. The microprocessor and the antenna can be mounted to a supporting substrate, which can include a label or wrapper, for extension along the exterior of the container and/or closure assembly.
RFID tags are frequently fabricated by a specialty RFID tag manufacturer that acquires the substrate material and microprocessors, and attaches the antennae and microprocessors to the substrate. The tag manufacturer may also add to the substrate information typically printed on a product label. The substrate/label can then be affixed to the exterior of the container and/or closure assembly. Alternatively, the product manufacturer may print and attach the product labels incorporating the RFID tags.
RFID tags may also be pre-encoded, unencoded, or omitted from the container and/or closure assembly. This may further complicate closure assembly fabrication and container filling by requiring that the fabricator responsible for adding the RFID tags to the final container and/or closure assembly perform additional operations on the RFID tags, such as encoding, verification, quality control, and the like. This can lead to inefficiencies and increased costs, and can complicate customization of the RFID tags.
Locating the RFID tag beneath a closure assembly can enhance protection of the tag during the shipping and handling process. However, should an RFID tag contact a metallic liner, the tag may be rendered completely inoperative, or the operational radius of the RFID tag may be significantly reduced. Polymeric liners do not suffer from this limitation. However, as discussed above, the higher permeability of polymeric liners may render their use undesirable.
Composite liners have been developed that consist of a metallic antenna portion coupled with a microprocessor, and a polymeric portion for appropriately isolating the microprocessor and optimizing the performance of the RFID tag. While in many cases satisfactory performance of the RFID tag can be provided with this configuration, the composite liner is more permeable in those areas without an overlying metallic liner, effectively rendering the entire sealing liner relatively permeable, and thereby defeating the purpose of a metallic liner.
Optimizing the strength and fidelity of the transmission signal is dependent on the location of the RFID tag on or in the container. There are benefits to incorporating an RFID tag into the sealing liner. However, sealing liner fabrication methods may fail to accommodate satisfactory integration of the RFID tag with the sealing liner.
Consequently, it would be advantageous to employ some means in addition to a sealing liner to more effectively guard against tampering. It would also be advantageous if such a means could readily provide automated identification of a container and its contents to confirm that all containers in a shipment or lot are as expected for shipping, inventory control, customer order preparation, customs inspection, and the like. In particular, automated identification can comprise part of a control system that can account for each individual container during its shipment from manufacturer to end-user. In this way, both mistakes (e.g., mislabeling) and intentional deceptions can be detected and corrected before a product reaches an end-user.